Twilight
by Crutey
Summary: Alternate future: based on an idea by Alan Moore, the Justice league rule the world but it's not the paradise you expect, the end is coming...I suck at summaries just please read it and review


I own neither the characters (DC) or the original rough idea of the story (Alan Moore…or DC).

**Chapter 1-One night in Gotham**

_2006, the best bar in the city…_

John Constantine sits at the bar, there's noise and life and music all around him, people having fun and enjoying themselves but Constantine isn't, he blows the smoke out of his mouth and glances down at his watch. It's almost 9, John stares at the bar for a second before running his hand through his blonde hair, he slowly reaches forward and stubs his cigarette out in the ashtray next to him and slowly slides his packet of cigarettes into the pocket of his brown coat, his hand briefly touches the crumpled paper in his pocket and he grimaces. He reaches forwards and grabbed his glass of scotch bringing it to his lips as he takes a drink.

A young woman sits down on the stool next to him "Hey gorgeous" she says with a smile as she takes a cigarette from her handbag "got a light?"

Constantine turns slowly to face the woman, he looks at her for a second and begins to speak.

_London, Constantine's flat…2000_

John Constantine awoke with a start, he had fallen asleep on the settee again, _"another whiskey induced coma"_ he thought to himself with a laugh until the laugh caused his head to pound like the opening tune to 'I love you baby' he held his head with one hand while his other hovered for a second unsure whether to start with another drink "_Hair of the dog and all that crap" _or to light up his fag first. His hand reached over to the cabinet next to the settee towards his fags before he stopped, he looked up at the faceless man in the corner of the room.

"Morning" said the man in a rough voice, he didn't have eyes, a nose or a mouth but John could tell he was smiling. The man glanced down at his wrist "Afternoon actually" he said with a shrug.

"What the fu…" began Constantine before he was cut off by the man.

"Oh please lets not show how tough you are by swearing all the way through this meeting" said the man with a gesture.

"I'll swear if I fing well want to, you're in my fu…" Constantine was once again cut off.

"Oh please Sweeney" said the man, Constantine had that sickening sense that the man was smiling again.

"Alright who the hell are you?" asked John, he stood quietly and watched the man move waiting for his answer, John knew magic and he knew if someone was reading his mind and he could tell no one was. The only people who knew him by that name was dead, so either this man had contacted them somehow which was unlikely as they never left him alone long enough for him to take a piss let alone go and have a conversation without telling him.

"Don't you recognise me from the news" said the man "I'm The Question".

"Look you might have changed your voice tone but the fact is you can't hide your accent and The Question isn't English"

"Bollocks can't get one over on you can we" said the fake question in his grinning voice again, his voice still disguised.

"Who's we?" asked Constantine, he was begging to get sick of the circular questioning but once you've had an argument with a demon fond of rhyming you can pretty much put up with anything.

"John I'll tell you straight, I know your mates called you Sweeney Todd because of that summer you worked in the barbers and I know you've got a tree on your backside from that bloody Swamp Thing, you found it when you were with that bird from the bar round the corner and I know that your mam used to call you…" this time it was Constantine who cut him off.

"Alright I get the point and now you get to yours"

The man paused for a second as he looked up at Constantine who still kept staring in the general direction of his eyes. "I'm from the future" he said in a monotone voice as he continued to stare.

Constantine looked at him with complete seriousness for a second before he fell back his settee and started to laugh for a couple of seconds before he held his head and wished he hadn't.

"I knew you'd laugh, I'm form the future you see" said the man.

"You're friggin' insane mate that's what you are" said Constantine with a shake of his head "I still want to know how you knew all that stuff" he stopped as he grabbed a fag and popped it in his mouth and lit it.

"I've told you I'm from the future" said the man "I've been sent back in time to get help from you…only you can save the earth".

Constantine shook his head "Tell you what mate, lets just say I believe you…who in their right mind would think that I could save the world".

"Who do you think?" asked the man, obviously rhetorical. "Who in the world thinks you're so important, you obviously only you're that self involved".

"What?"

"I said you're self involved" said the man in his grinning voice again.

"No, I meant what? I sent you back in time to have a conversation with me now so that I can save the world?" asked John as he raised an eyebrow thinking _"This bloke is more cracked then my toilet bowl"_.

"You think it's cracked now, wait until new years eve 2002" said the man. Constantine stared in disbelief "From the future" nodded the man "You told me what you were thinking."

"Okay so again hypothetically lets say I believe you…how can I save the world?" asked Constantine as he took a deep breath and blew the smoke into the air as he exhaled.

"Let me tell you a story" said the man.

_2008…Metropolis_

Superman hovered in the air, his eyes scanned for miles in every direction, through everything but lead. _"J'onn" _he said telepathically _"Chronos is on the subway, he's in fedora and long trench coat…send Green Arrow, he's not far away and he's just finished with Captain Boomerang"_.

Superman watched as Green Arrow burst onto the train and fired his arrow, the arrow soared along the train car and extended into a net as it wrapped Chronos before it started to deliver electrical shocks to the villain making him writhe and scream in pain.

"How's it going?" asked Wonder Woman as she flew up behind Superman, her hands covered in blood.

"We have most of them, just picking up the stragglers" said Superman before he turned to Diana and noticed the blood on her hands "I thought I said no killing…I never expected you too…"

"I didn't" she said as she looked down at her hands "Joker….he tried to keep me at bay, he shot a hostage this is her blood" said Diana "how many more have to die?" she asked with a shake of her head.

"We're all upset about Bruce" said superman as he stared into Diana's eyes "he's why were doing this remember" he said "in memoriam we'll make sure no one will ever have to die at the hands of criminals again".

"Kal…I was thinking, how is this any different from the Justice Lords?" asked Diana.

"It's completely different, they took control we were given it in an emergency…the criminals went too far, they banded together and they destroyed the white house killing the president half the government and Bruce in the process" said Superman as he narrowed his brow "The people asked us to do something and so we are, once the criminals are rounded up and shipped off to that intergalactic prison the green lanterns arranged we'll hold elections".

"You still thinking of running?" asked Diana.

"Maybe, without the villains there isn't much use for Superman so maybe I can do more good in the government then I can do flying around" Superman began to descend, Diana hovered for a few more seconds before following.

_2000…_

"The elections never happened" said the fake question with a shake of his head "Don't get me wrong they never meant to take over but after that came the war between Thannigar and Earth…part II….Hawkgirl fought our side in case you wondered". The man paused for a second as he watched Constantine as the knowledge seeped into him "The metas formed a government and for a while everything was perfect but nothing ever lasts does it".

"I suppose not" said Constantine with a shake of his head.

"The war ended may 16th 2010, in 2011 after a lot of protests the population voted to outlaw aliens on earth" said the man with a shake of his head "that's when I knew, that's when I knew that everything was going down the pan…imagine a superhuman war".

"What Superhuman war?" asked Constantine as he sat forward.

"Imagine all of the aliens…and the Lanterns since they basically count, all of them being forcibly removed from the planet…excluding Superman of course, they couldn't bare to part with Earth's adopted son so he was allowed to stay" the fake Question scratched his cheeks "The aliens and the ones they loved…mostly metas themselves fought against those who tried to force them to leave, a lot of lanterns died and a lot of other aliens like that Starfire bird…which you can imagine didn't sit well with the Titans, they quit the cause instantly and went off on their own."

"Let me guess…not long after that others started to leave" said Constantine as he stared at the featureless face looking back at him.

"How did you ever know" said the man, he wasn't grinning joyfully but Constantine could tell his mouth was turning up at the sides. "The Titans set up their Headquarters up at the old Titan tower, people started to move from near it to in its shadow, a city sprang up and they listened to the Titans, the others just seemed to let it go as if they owed it to the Titans. Then the House of Time opened, same story, people flocked there and the Justice League let them…the people didn't know but it's because it was rotting from the inside out, three of the originals were gone and infighting had begun to arise as it seemed not everyone there was for the aliens leaving."

"So let me guess there was another war" said Constantine as he lit another cigarette, his third since the story began.

"No, the knew if there was another war that not one ordinary citizen would back them so they split, each small group took their own area and looked after it…it's like the feudal system but they were in a constant flux of houses disbanding and reforming, absorbing and obliterating one another until I stabilised…well sort of."

"Tell me when are you from, everything you've mentioned happened in your past, what year are you from?"

"2027" said the fake Question.

"The feudal system still going?"

"Yes as I said it's pretty stable at the minute, there are only seven houses at the minute" Fake Question exhaled. "The house of Steel was one of the last to separate although there's still a debate whether it was they who left or if it was the House of Justice. Superman and Superwoman are married… she's still Wonderwoman to you, big wedding back when things were good" the man grinned in his faceless way again "They have two kids Superboy and Supergirl…original huh? Those guys rule over Metropolis and it's surrounding areas, basically the entire western coast."

"The House of Thunder, shortly before the super villain purge two more Marvels came out of the woodwork, Mary and Captain Marvel Jr…let me tell me tell you there isn't anything Jr about this guy, he was a teenager at first but now he's a man with just as much power as Captain Marvel or Superman. Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel have a kid Mary Marvel Jr. The House of Thunder are set up on the west coast…directly opposite form the house of Steel. That should give you an idea of the mentality between the two most powerful houses. The others basically fall in between."

The masked man sat forward slightly "God I tell you I wish I had lips because I could kill for a fag." He laughed, Constantine didn't.

"The House of Titans is made up of those Teen Titan's who used to be around a few years ago before they all graduated into the major league. Nightwing, Cyborg, Beast Boy…now Chimera, Raven, Speedy…now Arsenal, Bumble Bee and Hawk…now Warhawk since his brother died."

"House of Mystery, is just that a mystery. John…you…tells me some of the guys are Dr Fate, Zatanna, Etrigan and more. They're into the heavy magic stuff just keep themselves to themselves really and plumb the mysteries of the universe or something."

"Let me guess I'm a member?" asked John with a grin.

"It's not good to know to much about your future but sufficed to say, No!" said the man with a shake of his head "The House of Secrets is made up of those villains who managed to escape the purge, Luthor, Grodd, Star Sapphie etc, etc, etc. Suprisingly they rule their little bit of dirt quite fairly."

"The House of Justice is those who are left from the Justice league Captain Atom, Aquaman…the one who used to be a Titan, Wonder Woman…some bird from that paradise island took over her name once she became Superwoman, The Flash, Dr. Light, Booster Gold and Fire."

"The House of Time are like the House of Mystery, in the essence no one really knows who rule the place they just know they get what they need".

"Doesn't sound very stable to me" said John with a shake of his head, he had poured himself a drink and was halfway through the glass.

"That's the beauty of it…Thunder and Steel are the big players but both are in stalemate. Neither can make a move on each other or any other house through fear that the other would team up with the minor houses and taking over…so there is peace through fear" grinned the man.

"What do you want from me?" asked Constantine as he leaned forward.

"Simple, get word to the heroes, talk to some of them, who knows one of them listens to you and the whole sorry mess can be avoided…the fate of the free world rests in your hands John Constantine".

To Be Continued…

Be sure to tune in next time as we jump forward to the year 2027 to see if John Constantine was able to make the slightest bit of difference (the answer is no…but it sets the whole story up nicely so just read on ok.)


End file.
